Heretofore, there has been propose a method for producing a high purity silicon carbide powder by mixing a silicon source (specifically, ethyl silicate), which is liquid at ordinary temperature, a carbon source (specifically, a phenolic resin), which is liquid at ordinary temperature, and a catalyst (specifically, maleic acid) capable of dissolving the carbon source. Specifically, a silicon carbide powder is produced by heating a mixture containing the silicon source, the carbon source, and the catalyst (for example, Patent Literature 1).
In the case of using maleic acid as the catalyst, the content of sulfur contained in the silicon carbide powder is low in comparison with a case of using toluenesulfonic acid as the catalyst. Thus, the use of maleic acid as the catalyst enables the production of a silicon carbide powder suitable in the field of semiconductor where sulfur serves as an impurity.
Additionally, there has also been proposed a technique of heating a mixture containing a silicon source, a carbon source, and a catalyst in two stages in order to produce a silicon carbide powder having an average particle diameter of 100 to 200 μm. Moreover, it is also known that when a ratio between carbon contained in the carbon source and silicon contained in the silicon source (hereinafter, C/Si) is more than 2.0 but less than 2.5, the amount of free carbon can be reduced (for example, Patent Literature 2).